“The dream begins with a teacher who
believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau,
sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called ‘truth’”. – Dan Rather
I hope my
title doesn’t offend you, but if it does, maybe there’s good reason.
If you’re
looking for an easy job, one where you punch in and out at a regular time,
please don’t be a teacher.
If you’re
looking for a job where you don’t bring your troubles or your work home with
you at the end of the day, please don’t be a teacher.
If you see
the job, and all you see is summers “off”, please don’t be a teacher.
Because, you
see, you have it all wrong.
There are no
“off” hours to teaching. Teachers earn a salary. I very deliberately use the
word “earn” there, as opposed to “teachers are paid” a salary. Believe me when
I say that teachers earn every penny of their low wages. Teachers arrive early
and stay late. We bring our work home and continue working hours after the
school day has ended and we work weekends. Yes, we know going into this career
that this is how it is going to be and we do it anyway.
The thing
is, good teachers don’t really “choose” teaching. It’s more like it chooses
them. Good teachers, great teachers, feel a pull – a call – to teach.
We fully
realize the responsibility we have. This is not a joke to us. We did not take
this job just for the holidays. By taking this job, we know we are the ones responsible
for teaching our kids the information they will be required to know for all
future years to come. That is pressure. Their knowledge base is entirely
dependent on what we put there. Everything we teach, everything we say has to
be accurate, has to be reliable because we
have to be trustworthy. They have to know that they can count on us no matter
what because if once we prove to be doubtable, they will always be hesitant. We
have to keep the bar high.
Being a
teacher has no “hours of operation”. We will worry about our kids because
once they are in our class, they are “our” kids. It doesn’t matter what grade
we teach. I have a sister who teaches third grade. I have another sister who
teaches eleventh grade. I teach college. The one thing we all have in common is
that we worry about our kids. When a student is going through something, it
translates into problems in the classroom, problems in the work. I worry about
my students as fellow humans. Sometimes, when we know their particular horrible
situations, the worry is enough to keep us up late at night. Being a teacher
means teaching the whole person, seeing the whole person, and not just the
parts that are masked and presented in a classroom. Being available to talk
when needed is important.
We give so
much of ourselves during the school year that when the summer comes we are
exhausted. However, despite the large number of teacher friends I have, I do
not know a single teacher who actually gets a “summer off”. Summers are used
for planning our fall courses, for revising, revamping, and attending
conferences and professional development. Many teachers use this time for the
expected writing, research, and publication they have not been able to pursue
during the fall and spring semesters. We’re still working; we’re simply working
without the students being present.
Teachers
teach because we love connecting to our students. We have a passion for our
subject and want to tell as many people about it as possible. We take seriously
the fact that it’s our job to teach them all
the things, that we have to make the determination of what they do and do
not need to know at that moment.
The moment
we take this job for granted is the moment we begin to fail in our position. It’s
the moment we lose credibility and passion. If you only think about paychecks
and holidays, please don’t be a teacher. I don’t want my children in your
class.